Thursday, December 9, 2010

"I'm gonna take a little time. A little time to think things over. I better read between the lines in case I need it when I'm older." Nathalie Simard is a well known francophone performer from Quebec. She is a star within the borders of that province. Her career began at a very young age. Her and her brother, Rene Simard, were picked up by a producer named Guy Cloutier as children and basically moulded into child superstars. They both began recording in the seventies and achieved gold and platinum status for many of their albums. Nathalie was also a prominent figure in children's television within the province. Sadly, Nathalie revealed that she had been sexually abused by her producer while in his care. She disappeared from the limelight for a while but returned in 2007 with this release, Il Y Avait Un Jardin. The album featured a wonderful cover of the Foreigner classic, I Want To Know What Love Is. Nathalie would announce a year later that returning to the spotlight was harder than she realized and cut her tour short and officially retired from music. A heartbreaking story involving a tremendously talented woman. Here's hoping she finds peace within herself. You can hear the song, I Want To Know What Love Is, on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54qAYbQmlQo). The album is available for download on Itunes. As always, you can hear this song as well as others that I blog about each day on Live 365 (http://www.live365.com/stations/raisedoncndnradio). Thanks for reading and enjoy!